Staples to get slice of Apple pie

Report: Office-supply giant to start selling gadgets in U.S. stores

Credit: AP

In this Nov. 15, 2010 photo, people pass a Staples store, in New York.

A Staples Inc. deal to sell Apple products in the United States would not be a “game-changer” for the Framingham company, but it could be a positive move, analysts told the Herald.

The nation’s largest office supply chain, which already sells Apple gadgets in Canada, reportedly finalized a plan to start domestic sales, according to tweets attributed to several of its employees.

Regis Mulot, a Staples senior vice president of global human resources, on Thursday reportedly tweeted: “After Canada, #Apple products are coming to #Staples in US. Great news!” The tweet since has been removed.

Apple-following websites also reported two other tweets, allegedly by Staples employees who attended a corporate meeting on Thursday, announcing the same news, both of which were inaccessible yesterday.

“I would characterize it as a mild positive,” Anthony Chukumba, a BB&T Capital Markets analyst, told the Herald. “I don’t think it’s a game-changer by any stretch.”

A number of other retailers already sell Apple products, he said, and Staples, which announced a major restructuring plan in September to cut costs, would be competing against Apple’s own highly regarded stores and website.

“The second issue is that the margins you make on Apple products are not very good,” Chukumba said. “They’re really, really low compared to similar products from other manufacturers.”

Such a deal could be beneficial given Apple’s penetration in the education market, according to R. Scott Tilghman, a Caris & Co. analyst.

“Certainly at the retail level, (Staples) does well with educators,” he said. “The flip side is there definitely seems to be a growing appetite for non-Apple products. I don’t think it will be as much as a needle-mover as it would have been a few years ago.”

Staples’ U.S. business has stabilized, but internationally the company has lagged, according to Tilghman. “I wouldn’t say they’re humming along, but trends are generally moving in the right direction,” he said.